Legal Ways to Teach the Bible During the School Day

The education of children is an important and valuable part of society. If you are a Christian or religious person, it can be frustrating to see the lack of moral teachings within public schools. Fortunately, there are ways for your children to receive faith-based education as part of their school day.

Release Time Education

Here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, parents are allowed to request their child be excused for religious instruction.  According to Section 1546 of the PA School Code, the school must:

excuse any student … from school attendance for a total of not more than thirty-six (36) hours per school year in order to attend classes for religious instruction. (source)

These religious education programs, often called release time programs, usually happen once a week and can take place before, during, or after the school day.

The goal of release time education programs is to teach fundamental biblical principles, morals, and the storyline of the Bible to students. While many Christian families take advantage of this program, children of families that do not normally attend church are also frequent participants of these free programs.

Religious Education Classes in Lancaster County

In Lancaster County, there are several organizations providing release time Bible education for elementary students. Groups like Bible2School and Joy El Generation provide curriculum, trained volunteers, and off-campus facilities for these religious education classes. Currently, there are release time programs in 28 of the 72 elementary schools in Lancaster County.

Education and Religious Liberty

Whether you are a believer or not, we can agree that release time programs are another demonstration of the freedom and religious liberties we can enjoy here in the United States. And for participating families, these Bible programs meet a tangible need of teaching their children the morals and values at the core of Christianity.

Hear attorney Jeff Conrad’s passion for educating the next generation.